Always A Friend To Me
by BewilderedFemale
Summary: A short piece about the value of friendship, felt like I needed to write it. Sometimes we experience life-altering experiences, troubling issues etc. Hoggle re-evaluates what he feels is the loss of his best friend Sarah, but realizes that what he really needs is to adjust his attitude. Friendship/Hurt/Comfort


Hoggle sat in front of the roaring fire. On a day like this, Sarah was usually over with Didymus and Ludo; not anymore.

Sarah had given birth to her first child, Jarah; a beautiful baby girl with her father's golden blonde hair and her mother's deep, emerald eyes. He had seen her picture in the paper, but had yet to go visit her in the castle. The days of them going into town, preparing meals together, or just sitting down and talking about life and what they aspired to do seemed as if it happened ages ago.

When he would think back to when she had recently married Jareth, he remembered that sparkle in her eye and pep as she invited him over to the castle for a night of food and movies; his heart ached at the memory. He couldn't do those things with her anymore, it was if she had transformed herself into a totally different person; a woman, no longer a child and he didn't know her anymore.

Her priorities had obviously changed, it wasn't about fun and games anymore, everything was based around the baby and Jareth; no room for little Hoggle anymore and it only served to make him ache all the more.

He thought about the time where she had wanted to form a book reading group in the town's center. Jareth had gotten her the space and he had helped with the equipment, sometimes under rain and thunderstorms to do it and even though he personally wasn't that into it, he did because they were friends and he valued what they shared.

He had always been of the mindset where even if friends didn't always get along, or if sometimes they did things that rubbed them the wrong way, you let it go because friendship was a special gift, a treasure that couldn't be bought or sold that was rooted within the depths of the heart. It had significant meaning that would better you as a person. He just didn't understand how she could've let it go so easily, and no matter what he did to try to put the memory out of his thoughts, it would still rear it's head at him.

Trouble was that he hadn't exactly tried to talk to her about it because well... If she had suddenly neglected him then he should do the same.. .. Right?  
He understood she would be busier, but an entire month and not a word? Not a letter, no cards, no messages; maybe it was finally over and he just had to accept it the hard way. He would eventually move on he knew, but getting over the issue was an entirely different matter.

The truth was he wasn't sure what to do so he sat there, watching the flames flicker in front of him, wondering why everything had gone so wrong. A part of him knowing that it was his fault for taking something she had no control over out of context but at the same time; he couldn't help feeling the way he did.

He got up, grabbing his empty cup of tea with him, soon he'd go to bed and forget about everything; he always looked forward to that except for the times when the situation haunted him in his sleep.

As he made his way over to his small kitchenette to clean his cup, there was a knock at the door.

"Who coulds it be at this hour!" He grumbled angrily.

His little feet trudged over to the door and he opened it wide, his mouth already open to shout at his late night visitor when before him stood Sarah, carrying a well-covered bundle in her arms.

"Hoggle!" She cried happily.  
"Why have you not come to see me?" Were the first words out of her mouth.

All of the sudden, Hoggle didn't know what to say because the feelings he had been keeping repressed after all this time suddenly didn't make a lot of sense to him, and he realized that he might've actually been jealous of the thing she was currently holding in her arms.

"I's been busy!" He said as he folded his arms in front of him and pouted.

Sarah's eyes saddened as she said: "Really Hoggle? You're too busy for me?"

Immediately he had regretted his words and reached out to her, his ache ever present for having realized just how much he really missed her. "No Sarah I… I cants tells ya how much I'ves missed ya, but your.. your.." He said as he pointed at the bundle again, it was gurgling as she moved it around lightly in her arms.

She smiled as she sat down on his tiny chair and carefully held out her baby to him. "Hoggle, would you like to hold Jarah?"

He looked at the little fae/human, her smirk was like her father's, she looked at him and held out her tiny arms at him. "I… I's don't know."

"Here" She said as she helped him cradle the baby, they both held her until Sarah slowly let go. Hoggle blinked as he realized that this was what he had wanted all along. In his arms was Sarah's creation. He was overwhelmed with emotion and quickly handed the baby back to her, discreetly trying to wipe at his tears.

"Hoggle? Are you ok?"

"Im's fine! I just.. gots something in my eye, that's all!"

She looked at him for a moment before asking again: "Why did you stop coming to the castle? Did you think that I wouldn't want to see you anymore since Jarah was born?"

"No I… I…" He hung his head. "Yes. Yous busy now, no time for Hoggle no more."

She shook her head. "Hoggle, look at me." She said as she peered at him.  
"We will always be friends no matter what, nothing will ever change that. Now, it's true that I have a baby to take care of now, and so that means that some of the things that we use to do before will be replaced by other activities, but that doesn't mean I don't want to see you anymore Hoggle; don't ever think that."

He seemed somewhat convinced so she continued. "As a matter of fact, part of the reason I came here was to see if you would take on a task. To help me play with the baby, would you like that Hoggle?"

His eyes lit up and his little feet hopped slightly. "Yes! If you wishes it."

She nodded. "I do Hoggle, and we can start tomorrow morning if you have time."

"Oh I'lls be there!" He said excitedly. Relishing in the fact that his pain and inner turmoil had been released from his chest. Sarah still wanted to be friends, and came all this way at night to tell him so; it meant the world to him.

As he saw her leave he realized that maybe he should've made a greater effort to seek her out, to not have allowed so much time to pass. In the end things had worked out though, and he would never allow another mis-understanding come between the beautiful friendship he had come to rely so much upon.

THE END


End file.
